OLATHE, KAN. (AP) — A 71-year-old driver who is charged in the death of a 14-year-old girl told police he thought he was stepping on the brakes when he struck her as as she walked home from her suburban Kansas City school, charging documents say.
The documents released Tuesday in the case against Sudhir Gandhi, of Lenexa, Kansas, said that he also he told police that when the car continued to accelerate, he decided to steer it away from other vehicles stopped on the road and drive onto a sidewalk. Gandhi is charged with reckless second-degree murder in the death of Alexandra Rumple, who was hit while walking on the sidewalk. She was an eighth grader at a nearby Overland Park, Kansas, middle school.
Police say the car also narrowly missed hitting three other children, hit a traffic light, struck a speed limit sign and destroyed about 80 feet (26.67 yards) of a wood fence before coming to a stop. Court records say that no brake lights were observed on the vehicle. And a vehicle inspection found no problems with the vehicle's brakes.
Gandhi’s defense attorney Keith Drill described what happened as “a terrible, horrible accident" in a statement. She said Gandhi intends to fight the murder charge in court.